Acetylene-gas-generator lamp



No. 618,594. A Patented Jan. 31, 1899. E. 1.. WILLIAMS. ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR LAMP.

(Application filed Nov. 16, 1897.)

(No Model.)

EDIVARD L. WVILLIAMS,

PATENT FFICE.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

,ACETYLEN E-GAS-G EN ERATOR LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 618,594, dated January 31, 1899.

Application filed November 15, 1897. Serial No. 658,575. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. WILLIAMs, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Generators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gas-generators,and more particularly to that class of portable generators which may be conveniently embodied in a lamp for house use or for attachment to vehiclessuch, for instance, as bicycles.

My present invention has for its object to provide a generator wherein upon the closing of the controlling-valve the supply of water to the carbid will immediately cease and whereby upon the opening of said valve the supply of Water to the carbid will immediately commence again.

To these ends my invention consists in a gas-generator comprising, in combination, a generating-chamber to'contain a solid, such as calcium carbid, an elevated water-reservoir to contain aliquid, such as water, a supply-pipe connecting the two and containing a porous material or porous obstructive packing, and a valve located at the discharge end of the supply-pipe.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional view of a portable lamp andgeneratorembodyingmyinvention. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of a portion of the same, illustrating a modification; and Fig. 3

is a View similar to Fig. 2, illustrating another is the ordinary conical valve mounted on the end of a stem 19, which is threaded through a suitable aperture 20 in the base of the gen- In the form shown this valve erating-charnber and is provided with a stuffing-box 21 to prevent leakage and with a hand-grasp 22, by means of which the valve may be rotated. The lower end of the supply-pipe is formed into a suitable seat to receive the valve.

I have found in practice that in lamps of this descriptiop, where the valve is located at the upper end or in the upper portion of the supply-tube, when said valve is closed the water remaining in that portion of the pipe or tube below the said valve may still continue to flow, at least to some extent, to the carbid in the gen crating-chamber, so that the water-supply to the carbid does not cease at once upon the closing of the valve and gas is generated to some extent after said valve is closed. I have also found that after the valve has been closed for some time and it is desired to again generate gas when the Valve is first opened the supply of water to the carbid is not immediate, as the water must first percolate through the porous material in the tube or pipe and fill the same before the water issues from the discharge end of the said tube or pipe and has access to the carbid. I have overcome these difficulties by locating the controlling-valve at the discharge end of the supply-pipe, so that as soon as said valve is closed the flow of water to the carbid is at once arrested and the volume of water remains in the supply-pipe, keeping the porous material therein saturated, so that as soon as said valve is again opened the flow of water to the carbid begins at once, and no time is lost in again saturating the porous material.

I have shown and described my present invention as applied to a bicycle-lamp; but it is not limited to this particular application, as it is adapted for use in other lamps which have a supply-tube of considerable length containing a porous material. The form of valve employed may also be varied according to circumstances, the essential feature of my invention being that the valve should be located at the discharge end of the supply pipe or tube. For instance, instead of the conical valve shown a cup-shaped valve 23, adapted to inclose the lower end of the pipe 16 and containing a packing 24, against which said end may abut, may be employed, such a construction being shown in Fig. 2. Moreover,

instead of using the rotary threaded stem for operating the valve other means may be employed for this purpose-as, forinstance, such a construction as is shown in Fig. 3, in which a horizontal shaft 25, passing through a suitable stuffing-box and having an external wheel 26, by means of which it may be rotated, is provided at its inner end with an eccentric or cam 27, by means of which the Valve may be moved vertically to open or close the lower end of the pipe 16.

I claim 1. A gas-generator comprising, in combination, a generating-chamber to contain a solid, such as calcium carbid, an elevated reservoir to contain a liquid, such as water, a supply pipe or passage connecting the reservoir and chamber and containing a porous material forming an obstructive packing, and a controlling-valve located at the discharge end of such as calcium carbid, an elevated reservoir to contain a liquid, such as Water, a supply pipe or passage connecting the reservoir and chamber and having a porous material packed therein, a valve-seat formed at the discharge end of the supply pipe or passage, and a valve provided with a threaded stem passing through a correspondingly-threaded opening in the wall of the generating-chamber and adapted to control the flow of water through the supply pipe or passage, substantially as described.

EDWARD L. XVILLIAMS. \Vitnesses:

L. F. MOOREA,

IRVINE MILLER. 

